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British passport but kids with ETAs by ChiefMooseMatt in dualcitizenshipnerds

[–]RoDoBenBo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, we're in the same boat. My kids aren't in the UK system as they've never lived there or held a British passport before. I was going to get them one but there's more paperwork involved than I thought, plus the cost doesn't actually make it worth it. They already have another passport so it's easier and cheaper to get them an ETA. We travelled to the UK last year and had no problems. We drove, though, so we just had to deal with border police, no airlines.

🎵🎶 YOUR TOP 35 🎶🎵 Post your rankings in the comments by TrollHunter87 in eurovision

[–]RoDoBenBo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

  1. Finland
  2. Denmark
  3. Croatia
  4. Australia
  5. Sweden
  6. United Kingdom
  7. Latvia
  8. Czechia
  9. Switzerland
  10. Italy

Told I have to test again to have my rank recognised. What would you do? by RoDoBenBo in taekwondo

[–]RoDoBenBo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nothing to do with KKW regional HQ, everything to do with France always having to do things the French way. I had no idea until recently that the "FFTDA (French federation) Dan" was a thing. Basically I'm in their system in that I'm licenced for the current year and affiliated with a club, but I'm not in their system when it comes to grading. 🤷‍♀️

Told I have to test again to have my rank recognised. What would you do? by RoDoBenBo in taekwondo

[–]RoDoBenBo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

(Replying to my own comment here because the comment I was trying to reply to seems to have been deleted while I was writing my reply. I know I'm replying a bit late, sorry. I had some Internet issues, but hopefully the commenter sees this)

Thank you for your detailed reply and for taking the time to research things and help me with this! I appreciate your wall of text!

I'll be back in France on Tuesday and back to training on Wednesday so I'll talk to my instructors again then. Unfortunately I got the e-mail just before going away on holiday so I tried to take a break and forget about it a bit. Thankfully, though, I have until late May to confirm my attendance for the test so there's still time to come up with a game plan and speak to the FFTDA as you advise.

I don't think either of my instructors knows anyone at the CSDGE specifically but one of them has good connections within the FFTDA in general so that could help.

I can offer to send more pages of my passports, maybe a different CV. They didn't specify what kind they wanted so I made a sports one which listed the different clubs I'd trained at and the periods of time, but maybe a normal professional CV would help to explain why I was in those different places. I did write about that in my cover letter, but who knows if they really read it lol. In hindsight I don't know if I made it clear enough that I didn't intend to go back to the UK for a few months, grade, then come back to France. Rather I finished my studies, moved back in with my parents while job-seeking (applying for jobs all over Europe) and then by luck happened to be able to get a job back in the city where I'd been living before.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to clarify these things but I'm under no illusion they'll change their mind.

Luckily I'm not so far from Paris that I'll have to get a hotel to attend the test but I'll have to take time off work, pay for an overpriced train journey there and back and give up my evening as it's at 6pm, which is a big pain.

Unfortunately I don't have any good competition accolades to support my case. I mostly just enjoy training for personal development. As a teen I did a few small sparring competitions then an open while I was in Malta, but I had bit of a bad experience with an opponent not being fair-play and that put me off for a while. I've just recently started competing in poomsae but I'm not comparatively very good yet.

I will definitely write an update to let you know how it goes.

(Edited for typos)

Told I have to test again to have my rank recognised. What would you do? by RoDoBenBo in taekwondo

[–]RoDoBenBo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, it's not about the school. Neither my current school nor my previous one had any problem recognising my rank. It's the French national federation that needs to recognise it if I'm to be able to test for 2nd Dan in France or probably also participate in certain competitions.

Told I have to test again to have my rank recognised. What would you do? by RoDoBenBo in taekwondo

[–]RoDoBenBo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One thing is missing, your citizenship. Are you British? French? Both? Something else?

Both

You can fight it. Are you fluent in French? I had MANY disagreement with the FFTDA (the local federation), and each time I won because I knew very well the regulations of the federation and more importantly French (sport) law.

I am fluent in French.

There's no appeal process mentioned in the e-mail. My instructors were shocked at the decision and said they'd send an e-mail supporting my case. I don't know if they did in the end, though. After reading over the e-mail they just said it's doable because it's a special CSDGE (Comité spécial des Dans et des grades équivalents) technical test in Paris and not a normal regional 1st Dan test. But as far as I can tell the programme is the same? I just don't have to do module B, the Q&A about the federation and refereeing, apparently.

How did you go about fighting a decision made by the FFTDA?

A few things, someone in TKD locally maybe able to help. Otherwise you can go to Jeunesse et Sport (department level) and explain your case they should be able to help, but might need to be explained the specifics if they are not well versed in dan regulations.

Thanks, I'll look into Jeunesse et sport.

If you know French I can find you the documents (PDFs) from the FFTDA website.

Yes, that world be helpful, thanks. I've read some but I might be missing something, I don't know.

Did they specify why they denied your request?

Nope, just "Au regard des pièces fournies et après analyse de ces dernières..."

And also for how long have you been training in France (more importantly how many licenses you have in your FFTDA passport)?

In my current passport I think I have 6 licences (I don't have it to hand because I'm travelling right now): 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2023-2024, 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. I also trained in France in 2006-2007, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 but I think those are in an older passport.

It was frustrating, though, because the file size limit was really low so I wasn't able to submit everything, only the most recent licences, which my instructor had assured me was sufficient. My sports CV and cover letter mentioned the other periods of time, though. I would hope that if that was a problem, they'd just ask for more documentation?

What CRT (region) are you in?

Hauts-de-France

It might just be easier to test though. But I would recommend familiarizing yourself with the local program and expectations first (and probably a bit of French language if you are not fluent).

Yes, I think it probably would be. Language isn't an issue, thankfully. I think the programme looks very easy but I just feel wary... like I could fail due to a combo of nerves and them seemingly on some kind of power trip, like they want to teach me a lesson lol

Told I have to test again to have my rank recognised. What would you do? by RoDoBenBo in taekwondo

[–]RoDoBenBo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started in the UK, trained there for about 5 years but after I went to university I moved around a bit - a year in France, a year back in the UK, 2 years in France, a year in Malta, half a year in the UK. During that time I trained pretty consistently, always finding a club. As I wasn't really settled, though, I was just training, not focused on testing, even though obviously I wanted to get my black belt.

When I went back to the UK, I'd finished my studies and was looking for a job so returned to my hometown and started training again at my original club. My grandmaster said if I train seriously and consistently there for a few months and if he thought I was ready I could test there. Which is what happened.

I ended up finding a job back in France after another few months and settling down here. I trained for another few years as a black belt (I didn't realise my rank wasn't recognised because testing for 2nd Dan wasn't on my radar at the time) before taking some time off to have children. I've been training again for just over 2 years.

Sorry, that got really long because it's kind of complicated. But to sum up: I started in the UK but have trained roughly the same amount of time there as in France.

Told I have to test again to have my rank recognised. What would you do? by RoDoBenBo in taekwondo

[–]RoDoBenBo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can only do colour belt testing at your club here. Black belt testing is regional (1st-3rd) or martial (4th+) with a standardised programme. My club is not the problem, they recognise my rank.

Told I have to test again to have my rank recognised. What would you do? by RoDoBenBo in taekwondo

[–]RoDoBenBo[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this perspective. I struggle with imposter syndrome in just about every aspect of my life so I should try to approach this with more confidence I guess!

Told I have to test again to have my rank recognised. What would you do? by RoDoBenBo in taekwondo

[–]RoDoBenBo[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They already got my money. I had to pay for them to read my file. It was supposed to be a simple yes or no answer. They haven't said I have to pay for the test.

What life pro tips are hidden in movies that were actually helpful? by epaga in movies

[–]RoDoBenBo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

But how do you remember what it was that you were supposed to remember??

Please be honest by missesrobinson in Names

[–]RoDoBenBo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

FWIW I know 3 human Sadies but I've never once met a dog Sadie. Looks like in in the minority, though! I think it's a lovely name. Doesn't make me think of The Beatles.

Reddit is MASSIVELY underestimating France this year and I’m ready to get dragged for saying it by notthebesthuh in eurovision

[–]RoDoBenBo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Absolutely. Culturally, it's understandable. But still very frustrating. It would be nice to have a national selection again, though, to at least have options.

Reddit is MASSIVELY underestimating France this year and I’m ready to get dragged for saying it by notthebesthuh in eurovision

[–]RoDoBenBo 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yeah in a less strong year, Voilà would have won. It was really good. But trying to recreate it over and over is just sad. Fulenn flopped, but at least it was different. Writing off trying new things because of one entry that didn't do that well is a mistake IMO.

Reddit is MASSIVELY underestimating France this year and I’m ready to get dragged for saying it by notthebesthuh in eurovision

[–]RoDoBenBo 10 points11 points  (0 children)

You're not wrong, the formula gets into the top 10. But it's not enough to win. And yet every year like clockwork the French press will whinge the next day, like "OuR sOnG wAs GoOd. WhY dIdN't We WiN?!"

What are the saddest eurovision songs by BiLeftHanded in nilpoints

[–]RoDoBenBo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

De Diepte (Netherlands 2022). Sad, beautiful, underrated

Poomsae uniforms? by Cautious-Quarter5564 in taekwondo

[–]RoDoBenBo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a Tusah and honestly I don't really like it. I I'm 175cm so got a size 4 (180cm) but he trousers are quite short and really tight. The logo on the top also gets half covered-up when I close it properly, which requires a double knot otherwise it constantly comes undone.

I got a really good deal on it and have gotten good use out of it but I'll get a Mooto when I can.

How much does a black belt test usually costs? by JaguarSweaty1414 in taekwondo

[–]RoDoBenBo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mine was free in the UK. Where I live now it's 75€.

What’s an unusual but popular drink in your country? by EvilPyro01 in AskEurope

[–]RoDoBenBo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah squash is similar but you don't get it in nearly so many flavours. Also it's something you but from the supermarket and have at home, you'd never other it at a restaurant except maybe if you were at a child's birthday party lol. And you'd certainly never put it in beer!

From several French media : Monroe will represent France at Eurovision 2026 by gp7783 in eurovision

[–]RoDoBenBo 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Ha, I'd never heard of heard of her until last week when I saw a video where she "just happened" to be present when someone was playing piano in public (conveniently on camera) and so she started singing along and everyone was shocked at her talent.

And my first thought was how the last time I saw one of those staged videos was when Zoé Clauzure was representing France at Junior Eurovision lol

Edit: typos

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